The Fighting Illini had high hopes coming into the 2002 season. Last year they gained a share of the Big Ten title, finished the regular season with a top-10 ranking and made a trip to the highly touted Sugar Bowl.
Both head coach Ron Turner and his Illinois team gained national prestige and were ready for another championship run. According to Football News, they had four preseason all-conference players, the highest total among all the Big Ten teams.
Things almost never go according to plan. For the Fighting Illini, a 3-6 record (2-3 in the Big Ten) so far this season has been extremely disappointing. It is when a team has its back against the wall that the true colors of the players and coaches come out. In Turner’s case, he could not ask for any better leadership and optimism from his star receiver Brandon Lloyd.
Lloyd, a junior, was born in Blue Springs, Miss., a suburb of Kansas City. While Lloyd describes his hometown as normal and quiet, it is a guarantee that the Lloyd family household was not the always the same.
Lloyd is the youngest of seven children, with three older brothers and three older sisters. While sometimes it is the youngest that is left out and bullied, it was not the case in the Lloyd household.
“I was never picked on like you might think,” Lloyd said. “I was always being spoiled by them (his older siblings).”
According to Lloyd, a lot of his athletic talent can be attributed to his family’s continued support.
“My family comes to as many games as they can,” Lloyd said. “Since little league they have always come out to watch me play.”
When it came to his high school football career, there was never a dull moment. Lloyd never left the field, playing cornerback, wide receiver, kicker and punter. Lloyd’s all-around play led his team to a combined 20-0 record his junior and senior years.
There was not much of a transition from high school to college, as Lloyd jumped right onto the scene when he arrived at the University of Illinois in 1999. He established himself as a deep threat right away, hauling in a 49-yard pass in his first-ever collegiate game against Arkansas State. He even got to show off his quarterback skills, throwing a touchdown in a bowl game to his then-quarterback Kurt Kittner.
However, the momentum of a great rookie season was nearly erased by a freak accident that happened the summer before his sophomore year. While Lloyd was simply stepping off a curb one day he broke his femur. The accident led to Lloyd obtaining a medical red shirt and forced him to miss the entire season. However, Lloyd took the accident in stride, as he does with many things
“It was a hardship,” Lloyd said of his injury. “But it was also a challenge. And I love a challenge.”
He was ready to step up to this obstacle, as he came back in the 2001 season stronger and faster. Lloyd earned second-team all-BigTen honors, catching 65 passes while gaining 1062 yards.
With such a successful season last year, this tough season has been a hard pill to swallow for the competitive Lloyd, but giving up is the last thing on his mind.
“The last thing I’d ever do is quit,” he said. “I want to make sure the young guys can see that.”
Despite his team’s woes 10 weeks into the season, Lloyd has managed to snag 54 passes for 907 yards and seven touchdowns.
Surprisingly, running and catching the football might not be Lloyd’s best talent. It may lay with his voice in the broadcasting booth. In the off-season, he has kept busy interning with Fox Sports Midwest. He’s covered all types of games, from Saint Louis Blues playoffs to nightly Saint Louis Cardinal games.
If not in the NFL, Brandon Lloyd might be seen on another big show, in his dream job: as an ESPN SportsCenter anchor beside Stuart Scott. BOOYA.
